Golf putting device



. March 25, 1969 J. D. HALL 3,434,720

GOLF PUTTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 5, 1966 6 l/ws/vme JAMES D. HALL pmm United States Patent 3,434,720 GOLF PUTTING DEVICE James D. Hall, 52 Richfield Road, Upper Darby, Pa. 19082 Filed Nov. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 591,764 Int. Cl. A63b 57/00 U.S. Cl. 273-180 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a golf game.

The object of the invention is to produce a portable golf game which can be played indoors or outdoors.

A further object is to produce a golf game which can be played for practice, or competitively.

A still further object is to produce a golf game which affords valuable training in the art of putting, which is a difficult and important part of the game.

A still further object is to produce a game which involves an element of skill and an element of chance and thus provides increased interest.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a golf game embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlargement of the bracketed portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 44 on FIG. 3.

The game illustrated consists of a base 20 which is preferably circular but which may be of other shape and a vertical wall 22 which is at, or near, the periphery of the base. Wall 22 is interrupted at 23 to provide a gate 24 and the base portion between the ends 23 of the wall is tapered radially outwardly to form an entrance ramp 26.

Adjacent the inner side of wall 22, I provide a number of cups which simulate the ball-receiving cups on putting greens and which are accordingly numbered 1 to 18.

According to the invention, cup No. 1 is made relatively shallow, While all of the remaining cups are made of uniform depth which is the depth of cups 12 and 6 which are shown in FIG. 4.

To facilitate distinction, the cups are painted in different colors, and to make score, the cups are allotted various values. For example, cup No. 1 is painted in gold and is allotted a par value of 1; cups 2, 3, and 4 are painted silver and are allotted a par value of 2; cups 5, 6, 7, and 8 are painted white and are allotted a par value of 3; cups 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 are painted blue and are allotted a par value of 4; cup 12 is painted blue but is allotted a par value of cups 15 and 17 are painted red and are allotted a par value of 6; cup 16 is painted red but is allotted a par value of 7; and cup 18 is painted red but is allotted a par value of 5.

The colors and the par values may be changed provided a balance is maintained between skill and chance and provided that the cups which are more difficult to reach are given a lower par value than those which are more readily accessible.

To increase the skill and hence the difficulty of reaching hole in one cup No. 1, I provide an obstacle, or hazard 28, which is located in the path of movement of a ball from gate 24 toward cup No. 1.

In a golf game as played on an outdoor golf course, the lowest score wins and every effort is made to finish with the least number of strokes. The same principle applies to my game in that, if a player misses the gate altogether, he is credited with a number of strokes which can be fixed in the rules furnished with the: game or which can be agreed upon by the participants.

In playing competitively, the board is placed at the desired distance and the competing players take turns. If the ball of a player comes to rest in gold cup No. 1, the player gets a score of l for hole No. 1, and if the ball lands in cup No. 16, he gets a score of 7 for hole No. 16, and so on. The score accumulated by the deliberate, or random, landing of the ball, added to the score as a result of missing the gate altogether, determines the winner. In competitive playing, the number of strokes allowed each player is limited, so as to provide a definite cut-off. For example, if each player is allowed ten strokes, and if one player manages to get the ball to rest in ten cups having relatively low par values, he will win over a player whose ball comes to rest in ten cups having relatively high par values. The net result is aifected by the penalty assessed against a player whose ball misses the gate.

A board for carrying out the invention can be made in one, or in more than one piece, and it can be made of Wood or metal, or, it can be molded of any thermosetting natural or synthetic material such as vinyl or styrene.

I claim:

1. A golf putting device comprising a base member having a peripheral edge and an upper surface on which a ball may be putted, an area of said surface being inclined upwardly and inwardly from a peripheral edge portion of said base member to provide a ball entrance ramp, a wall extending upwardly from the peripheral edge of said base member to height above said surface, said wall extending continuously from a first end thereof on one side of said ramp, around the peripheral edge of said base member, to a second end thereof on the other side of said ramp, a plurality of ball-receiving depressions simulating putting cups formed in said surface, the depth of one of said depressions being significantly less than the depths of the other depressions so that the difficulty of sinking a putted ball into said one depression is significantly greater than sinking a putted ball into the other depression, said depressions being colored differently from each other to facilitate distinc tion and assigning different score points thereto, an up wardly extending obstacle on said surface, the relative arrangement of said one depression and said obstacle being such that said obstacle is positioned along a straight line extending from said ramp to said one depression so 3 4 that the difiiculty of putting a ball up said ramp and FOREIGN PATENTS into said one depression is enhanced.

348,748 2/1922 Germany. References Cited 117,587 11/1926 Sw1tze1'1and. UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 GEORGE J. MARLO, Primary Examiner 1,136,153 4/1915 Martineau 273 127 X 1,687,217 10/1928 Kurtz 273-1801X 1,803,265

4/1931 Mallard 273127 273-127, 176, 87 

